Most conspicuous bravery: New Brunswick's Victoria Cross recipients

It's difficult to imagine the kind of courage it takes to go into combat, to do what needs to be done despite the risks. 

But it's what hundreds of thousands of Canadian soldiers have done in this country's young life, through two world wars, the Korean War and numerous peacekeeping operations.

More than 100,000 lost their lives, many more were wounded.

And through it all, there were extraordinary acts of bravery, which included 99 recipients of the Commonwealth's highest award, the Victoria Cross, which Canadians were eligible to receive until 1993.

Five of those soldiers were born or had close attachments to New Brunswick.

Here are their stories:

William Henry Snyder Nickerson

William Nickerson has been the subject of controversy over the years. Some have argued he should not be included in Canada's list of Victoria Cross recipients because Nickerson himself probably didn't consider himself Canadian.

Nickerson was born in Dorchester, N.B., in 1875, the son of an army chaplain and a minister's daughter, both British-born, who had recently emigrated to Canada. 

It's possible the experience of small-town New Brunswick didn't suit the couple, as the family didn't stay in New Brunswick long, returning to England in time for young William to attend grammar school in Portsmouth.

He would go on to study medicine at Owens College in Manchester, and joined the Royal Army Medical Corps on July 27, 1898, at the age of 23.

In August 1899, he was sent to South Africa as a lieutenant with a mounted infantry unit, just as the colonial conflict began between the British and the Boers.

In April of the next year, while stationed at Wakkerstroom, his unit was involved in an assault on nearby Bwab's Hill.

During the attack, a wounded soldier was trapped on the flat ground between the British and Boer positions. The rifle and artillery fire was too heavy for stretcher bearers to retrieve him.

As night approached, the British infantry prepared for another assault.

Nickerson, alone, followed them out onto the plain as they advanced under fire, found the injured man in the dark, and tended to his wounds.

The commander of the mounted infantry, Brig.-Gen. W.H. Sitwell, wrote that Nickerson received the Victoria Cross "for going out under shell and rifle fire and stitching up a man's stomach whose entrails were protruding, thereby saving his life."

He remained with the wounded soldier until it was safe to retrieve him.

Nickerson would remain in South Africa for the duration of the war, and would also serve through the entirety of the First World War, reaching the rank of major-general before leaving the Medical Corps.

His First World War service would bring him back in contact with men from the land of his birth.

While serving on the Greek front, Nickerson was put in charge of several Canadian medical units.

In fact, one of the men under his command was a young stretcher bearer named Lester B. Pearson.

Nickerson is one of only 27 medical officers to receive the Victoria Cross.

He died in 1954 at the age of 79. He was buried on the grounds of his home in Cour, Scotland.

In 2003, his Victoria Cross was stolen from a family member in Strathclyde but was later recovered by police.

Herman James Good

Herman Good was born in Big River, just south of Bathurst, in 1887. 

He worked in the lumber industry there until 1915, when he travelled to Sussex to enlist on June 29 of that year, at the age of 27.  

Pte. Good would eventually end up in the 13th (Royal Highlanders of Canada) Battalion in April 1916. 

In June, he was wounded by gunfire during the German attacks around Ypres in Belgium. He returned to the battalion in August after a six-week recovery.

In October of that year, the 13th Battalion took part in heavy fighting near the town of Courcelette and suffered heavy casualties. Good was hospitalized for shell-shock, or what is now called post-traumatic stress disorder.

After two years of combat, which included fighting at Vimy Ridge, Good and his battalion found themselves near Amiens in early August 1918.

It was Aug. 8, the opening day of a series of assaults that would become known as the Hundred Days Offensive, that would eventually end the war.

Good, now a corporal, and his battalion were pinned down by three German machine-gun positions. Realizing the dangers if the advance was delayed, Good charged into the positions alone, killing or capturing the crews.

Later in the day, as the Highlanders advanced deep behind German lines, Good came across a battery of German howitzers while on a forward reconnaissance.

Returning to his men, he gathered three others from his section and charged the guns. The crews, taken by surprise, quickly surrendered and the guns were silenced.

Good survived the war and returned to Bathurst, where he worked as a logger and farmer and eventually as a game warden.

He died on April 18, 1969, at the age of 81. He is buried in St. Alban's Cemetery in Bathurst.

The Branch 18 Legion building in Bathurst is named in his honour.

His Victoria Cross is part of the collection of the Canadian War Museum. 

Cyrus Wesley Peck

Cyrus Peck wasn't exactly a young man looking for adventure when he enlisted in 1914.

He was already in his mid-40s by that time and would best be described as 'portly.'

Peck was born in 1871 in Hopewell Hill, the rural Albert County community likely best known as the birthplace of R.B. Bennett, the 11th prime minister of Canada.

At the age of 16, Peck moved to British Columbia, took military training and even considered joining the British military.

He tried to enlist to fight in the Boer War at the age of 29, but was turned down.

When war broke out in 1914, Peck tried again, and this time his military training not only got him accepted, it also got him an officer's commission.

By 1915, Maj. Peck was promoted lieutenant-colonel and given command of the 16th (Canadian Scottish) Battalion.

He would prove a more than capable commander, who often led from the front, as shown by the fact he was wounded twice.

He would also put his name forward as a Unionist candidate in the so-called "khaki election" of 1917 and was elected to the House of Commons while still serving overseas.

During the Battle of the Somme, Peck received the Distinguished Service Order and Bar, for actions that included personally leading his men through heavy artillery and machine-gun fire.

But, it was what happened on Sept. 2, 1918 that would earn him Britain's highest military honour.

On this day, the Canadian Corps would assault the Drocourt-Quéant Line, near Cagnicourt, France.

The initial assault bogged down when troops designated to defend the battalion's flank got caught up in heavy fire. Peck went ahead alone to survey the enemy positions.

Returning to his men, Peck reorganized the advance and got his men moving forward, using the information he had learned to find a safer approach.

Then, under heavy fire, he headed into the field to direct British tanks toward the enemy strongpoints.

The Canadian Corps would tear a six-kilometre-long hole in the German lines and Peck's battalion would drive the Germans back eight kilometres in a single day, an astonishing distance in a war that often measured success in hundreds of metres.

He returned to British Columbia after the war and served out his term as MP, then served as a two-term MLA with the provincial Conservative Party.

He died in 1956 at the age of 85.

His Victoria Cross is now in the Canadian War Museum.

William Henry Metcalf

Cyrus Peck wasn't the only Canadian soldier to earn a Victoria Cross on that day. 

He was one of seven soldiers awarded for their efforts on Sept. 2, 1918, in what is known as the Canadian military's "most-decorated day." That included another man with New Brunswick ties.

William Metcalf was born in Washington County in Maine in 1894 and had lived most of his life in Eastport, just a few kilometres from Deer Island, N.B., by boat. 

But he had deep Maritime connections. His maternal grandfather, Leonard Varnum, was born in a small community just north of St. Stephen, and his paternal grandparents were both from Nova Scotia.

So it was no surprise Metcalf tried to join the Canadian Army when war broke out in 1914. In fact, he was fishing on the Miramichi at the time.

There was only one problem. He was only 20, which meant he needed his mother's permission to sign up, something he knew would never happen.

So after two failed attempts, he simply added a year to his age and was accepted into service.

Mom was not happy, and when his ship arrived in England, a U.S. diplomat was at dockside looking for William Metcalf of Eastport, Maine.

Confronted, Metcalf claimed he was from Charlotte County - Saint David Parish, to be exact. His commanding officer, not wanting to lose a willing soldier, told the diplomat there were a lot of people in that area named Metcalf.

The ruse worked.

Metcalf was assigned to Cyrus Peck's 16th Battalion, and was decorated in 1916 for his efforts during the battle of the Somme.

On Sept. 2, 1918, Lance-Corporal Metcalf found himself in a similar position to his commanding officer, unable to advance because of heavy fire from the German trenches.

Seeing a tank moving off to his left, Metcalf sprinted toward it, and managed to get the attention of the crew inside.

Using a signal flag, and already wounded, he walked in front of the slow-moving vehicle in what was described as "a perfect hail of bullets and bombs" as he directed its guns toward the German machine-gunners, eventually allowing the company to advance.

Metcalf continued with his unit, despite being wounded again, until an officer ordered him to get medical treatment.

Metcalf married an English nurse and returned to Maine after the war, working as a barber.

He died in 1968 at the age of 74.

He is buried in Bayside Cemetery in Eastport, Maine. His funeral was attended by more than 40 members of the Canadian Legion. His casket was draped with a Union Jack.

His Victoria Cross is now in the Canadian Scottish Regiment Museum. 

Milton Fowler Gregg

Milton Fowler Gregg is a name familiar to many New Brunswickers. Born in 1892 in Mountain Dale, a small farming community near Sussex, Gregg was already a reservist when he enlisted in September 1914, at the age of 21 and joined the 13th Battalion. 

He arrived in France in 1916 and served as a stretcher bearer in the medical corps, a very dangerous job, and was wounded badly enough to be sent to England to recover in hospital.

By this time, the level of attrition for frontline officers was of great concern to the military, and Gregg's experience and university education suggested he'd make a fine officer. After training, he was awarded the rank of lieutenant.

He was posted to the Royal Canadian Regiment in April of 1917. 

Gregg was awarded the Military Cross during the unsuccessful battle for the city of Lens, part of the Vimy Ridge campaign, when he attacked a German machine-gun position with grenades and later carried a wounded officer to safety.

He would earn the Victoria Cross for his actions from Sept. 27 to Sept. 30, 1918, near Cambrai. 

During the advance, it was discovered the artillery barrage had failed to destroy barbed wire in front of the German trenches. It was left to Gregg to crawl forward under fire to find a gap in the wire.

Finding a way through, he led his men into the German trenches, where a brutal melee broke out for control of the position.

With his unit suffering many casualties and his men running short on grenades, Gregg returned to his own trenches to retrieve more.

Despite being wounded, he crawled back to the German position, where the situation had become desperate.

Regrouping his unit, Gregg successfully led the effort to clear the trenches, receiving a second wound.

He remained with his unit until Sept. 30, when he was severely wounded and pulled out of action.

Gregg returned home and became a prominent citizen with a lifetime of achievements.

He was sergeant-at-arms in the House of Commons in the 1930s and returned to active military service during the Second World War, where he trained soldiers, eventually becoming commandant of the Canadian School of Infantry.

He returned to civilian life to become president of the University of New Brunswick, then was elected as a Liberal member of Parliament, holding several cabinet positions over a decade.

He then served with the United Nations and UNICEF.

Milton Gregg died in 1978 at the age of 85. UNB's Centre for the Study of War and Society bears his name.

His Victoria Cross was stolen from the Royal Canadian Regiment Museum in London, Ont., in December 1978. It has never been recovered.

Gregg is buried at Snider Mountain Baptist Church Cemetery.